CHAPTER FIVE
DUCHESS
When Whiskey comes out of his office for dinner, he’s quieter than usual.
He had sent me a text message earlier, asking me to bring Krew into the clubhouse because everyone was eating together tonight.
It’s not unusual for the entire club, plus Old Ladies, kids, and club girls to all have a meal together, but it is unusual for it to happen during the middle of the week when it’s not a holiday or during the nicer weather months.
I don’t ask many questions when he gives orders pertaining to the club as a whole, so I’m just going with the flow today.
Yes, I did ask him what was going on.
No, he did not tell me.
I got the usual blanket “club business” answer, so I dropped it.
When one of the Brothers tells a non-member, their significant others included, that something is club business, that is the nice way of them telling you that it is none of your damn business.
Only patched members are included in the need-to-know information when it’s something only they need to know.
Now, that’s not to say everyone else won’t find out what’s going on if the situation calls for it, but that only happens if whatever is happening pertains to the person being told.
If a certain significant other is being threatened, a lot of times only they will be filled in.
If the club as a whole is at risk, women and children included, the officers will call a family meeting and tell us as a group.
What they choose to tell us may not be everything they know, but it is enough to make everyone aware of the possible danger.
When that happens, the entire club is more often than not put on lockdown. That means everyone must report to the clubhouse and not leave until the lockdown is lifted.
There are only two people in this whole club who can make that decision though—Whiskey, the President, and Steel, the Vice-President. There are other officers who can suggest we all hunker down for safety, but ultimately the final decision is up to the leaders.
I don’t even get special treatment when something is going on behind the locked doors of Church.
As the President’s Old Lady, I have been let in on some situations before other wives or partners knew, but whatever is happening today doesn’t seem to be one of those times.
And I have to be okay with that. When I agreed to be Whiskey’s Old Lady, he had been the club’s President for a little over a year, having been given the gavel by his dad.
Mountain started this club with four of his best friends, then they passed the reins to the next generation as time saw fit.
It’s spaghetti night for dinner, so I let Krew go wild and get messy while he eats.
I cut the noodles up into smaller pieces, but he is still able to pick it up and let him feed himself.
I give him a small forkful every so often, along with very mushy steamed carrots, so I know he’s actually getting some food in his belly instead of all over himself, but other than that, I just sit back, feed myself, and watch the room.
The main room gets louder and more crowded as more Brothers arrive.
I don’t see many families yet, just the ones who live on the compound, so I’m hoping that’s a good sign that whatever is happening isn’t catastrophic, but I know better than to count my chickens before they hatch when it comes to the Rebel Vipers MC.
Whiskey sits to my right, but spends the entire time talking in hushed tones to Steel who is sitting to his right.
Ring is across from them, leaning in to listen.
Sunshine is in front of me, one twin on each side of her, feeding them chopped up noodles and green beans.
Opal is at another table, eating with Mountain and Blue.
Just as I get up to grab Krew to take him to the kitchen to get him cleaned up and into his jammies, Whiskey stands as well and hollers, “Church in ten!” across the room. Every Brother nods or gives a short one word reply, acknowledging they heard him.
The room gets half as noisy as people start talking again.
“I got him.” Whiskey unbuckles Krew from his highchair, then zooms him to the kitchen like he’s an airplane.
“Careful that he doesn’t puke on you,” I say as I follow them.
“He won’t do that to his dad,” Whiskey laughs as he stands Krew right on the island countertop. “Boy, did you actually eat any of your dinner, or did you just smash it all over yourself?”
Krew shakes his head no as he lets out the cutest belly laugh. I can’t see what silly face Whiskey is making until I step up beside them, but once I see his puffed out cheeks, I can’t help but laugh too.
“Is your dad being silly, Krew?” I give his side a quick tickle before setting his diaper bag to the side and pull out what I need to clean him up and make him a presentable baby again.
Diaper. Wipes. Onesie. Footie jammies. Pacifier.
He doesn’t always take a paci at bedtime, but I always have a couple close by just in case.
“Yank his shirt off for me, please.” I ask Whiskey as I go to the sink and wet a couple washcloths.
Once the shirt is over his head, I grab a hand and start removing the orange sauce from every slimy inch of skin I can see.
“Pants and socks next.” Whiskey removes those too, and we then tag team our boy until he is as clean as he can be without a bath.
He even had a lone noodle in his hair. Krew doesn’t have much hair yet, and it’s all really light blonde so it occasionally looks more like peach fuzz, but the ends are starting to curl and I can’t imagine ever wanting to cut them off.
With his blonde hair and blue eyes, Krew has been his daddy’s twin since the day he was born.
You would think that since he grew in my belly for nine months, then pushed forever to bring him into this world, that he would look even a little like me .
. . but nope. Yes, I have blue eyes as well, but the shade doesn’t match his.
He is the copy and paste version of his father.
It takes a little wrangling, but we finally get Krew’s diaper changed, jammies on, and hair brushed. I scoop him up in one arm, then loop the diaper bag strap over the other shoulder.
“Little man and I are going to hang out with Sunshine and her gang until bedtime.”
Whiskey stops my backward steps by pulling us into his chest. One arm around my shoulders, the other hand resting on Krew’s back, he leans down to kiss our son’s cheek, then shifts to give me a slightly inappropriate for when your child is so close kiss.
Krew must think we are funny because he laughs and lightly slaps both of our cheeks.
Either that is toddler speak for ‘don’t kiss my momma’ or ‘aww my parents love each other’.
I’m sure he will let us know which way he’s leaning until he learns to put the words he’s learning into full sentences, but I’m sure we will know soon.
“Church may take a while tonight,” he finally addresses the elephant in the clubhouse. “Send me a text when you decide to head to our cabin. I’ll get it whenever I’m out.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I lift on my tiptoes to kiss his whiskered cheek. “Will there be a Prospect out in the yard keeping watch?”
“You know me so well,” he snickers as he grabs my hand and leads us out into the hall. “A few Prospects are on rotation for the rest of the night. When you’re ready to leave Sunshine’s, text Diego after you text me. He will walk with you.”
“You got it.”
“Then text me again when you get inside and lock the door.”
“I know the drill.”
“I know you do, but—”
“Whiskey,” I stop him when I step as close to him as I can and rest my chin on his chest. Krew is oblivious to the seriousness of what’s going on all around him.
“I got this. This isn’t our first rodeo.
I won’t do anything to put us in danger.
I will keep my eyes open when I’m outside.
I will lock all the doors when we’re inside. I promise.”
He closes his eyes as he drops his forehead to mine. It is only a one second flash of his vulnerability, but I’m the only one who gets to see it. Whiskey kisses my forehead, then Krew’s, as he squeezes my hand, and he’s off.
I watch him walk around the corner, presumably heading to the room where they hold Church, ready to plot and plan how to go about kicking ass and taking names of whoever is threatening our family.
“You two ready to party?” Sunshine’s always cheerful voice snaps me from my thoughts and I can’t help but smile back at her.
“I am!” Opal calls out, waving her hands in the air like one of those floppy, inflatable tube things at the car dealerships.
“Heck yes, we are.” I do a little shimmy and bounce Krew on my hip. “Aren’t we, buddy? Yea?”
“Yea, yea, yea, yea,” he echoes back.
As our little group approaches the back doors, they both open inward before we get too close. Diego and Ray appear like magic, holding the doors for us as I carry Krew and Sunshine pushes her twins in their stroller.
“I got this,” Ray takes over pushing the stroller once we step down off the patio and onto the gravel path toward our cabins. The ground is compacted snow over the gravel, so it’s not the easiest to push the baby mobile on wheels.
Sunshine grabs hold of Opal’s hand, I follow, and Diego brings up the tail end of this crazy train. Once we are all inside the third of five cabins, Sunshine flips both the door lock and deadbolt, before also checking the patio door over in the living room.
“Let me guess,” I say with a laugh as I start taking of mine and Krew’s coats. “Your guys gave you the third degree about locking all the doors and not going outside too?”
“You know it.” She laughs then drops her voice down a few octaves. “Lock the doors. Text us when you get inside. Don’t go outside unless the house is on fire. Call a Prospect when Duchess leaves. Blah blah blah.”
Now I really let myself chuckle. “I didn’t get the house on fire waiver, but kudos to them for putting a spin on the directions when giving you the same speech we’ve all heard probably fifty times.”
“That was a Ring addition,” she tells me as she types a quick text to who I am assuming is her husbands. They won’t get them until they are out of Church, same as Whiskey, but if they don’t see messages waiting when they do get out, it will be us they holler at until the cows come home.
I let Krew down and he’s off like a rocket, running as fast as his chubby legs will let him.
He loves his cousin Opal and would follow her everywhere if she’d let him.
Once they reach the living room, she boosts him up onto the couch beside their dog, Teddy, and the three of them snuggle down to watch whichever princess movie Opal picks.
Sunshine unbundles Joey from his winter gear while I unwrap Ryder. While it’s not a very long walk from the clubhouse to cabins, it’s winter in Wisconsin which means it’s fucking cold. With temperatures often in the single digits, we don’t risk kiddos and frostbite.
“So, what’s new with you?” Sunshine asks, with Joey on her lap as we sit at the dining room table.
With Ryder on my lap, I turn just far enough to make sure that the little ears in the living room are distracted and not eavesdropping on our conversation. Opal is a horrible secret keeper, so having her overhear would ruin my plans faster than you can say Texas tornado.
“Can I tell you a secret? You can’t tell anyone yet. Not even your guys.” Even though I’m ninety-seven percent sure I was quiet enough, I still doublecheck for noises across the room.
Sunshine leans in a little. “Of course. Is something wrong?”
“Actually, the opposite,” I reply as I shake my head.
“Oh my god! You’re pregnant,” she whispers before I can even form the words.
“Yea.” I can’t help but smile.
“Wait, why is this a secret? Does Whiskey not know yet?”
“No. I want to surprise him again on his birthday like I did about Krew.” I brush my hand over the wild, dark strands of Ryder’s hair while I think about how I’m going to break the news to Whiskey. “But this time I’m drawing a blank on how to tell him.”
Sunshine cocks her head to the side, then kisses Joey’s head. “You did the stuffed bear thing last time, right?”
“Yup.” I nod. “And I loved your idea when you used the beer bottles to tell Ring and Steel about these nuggets, so I was hoping you’d maybe have another idea in your back pocket that you wouldn’t mind sharing with me.”
She perks up and her smile gets big. “Ooo! What about a scavenger hunt?”
“Hmmm,” I think about the possibilities that could bring. “That could be fun.”
“Don’t you have his big present already being delivered on the fourteenth? Maybe you can tie that in somehow too?”
I think about the biggest, and most expensive, present I will probably ever give my husband and it makes me excited but nervous at the same time. It is exactly what he’s been asking for for over a year, but I still worry I picked the wrong something or other and it won’t be just right.
Lightbulb! “What if I make it kinda like a trip down memory lane? Each clue will be something about our relationship.”
“That sounds fun. You should come up with riddles for him to solve and move to the next spot.”
“And the final one will be where I’m waiting with the main gift and I can tell him the extra news too.”
“I love it,” Sunshine beams with even more happiness. It’s no wonder her guys gave her the Old Lady name they did. Between her bright blonde hair and sunny disposition, I can’t help but be happy when I’m around her.
“Isn’t it crazy how much has happened in the last few years? I never imagined that when I was on the hunt to find my mystery dad, that I’d end up living here with two husbands, three kids, a dog, and a whole huge family.”
“You’re telling me.” I can’t help but shake my head as I think back. “I wanted nothing to do with the club when Angel was here as a club girl. But now that we’re both married to bikers, and all popping out babies like bunnies, I can’t imagine our lives any other way.”